Timofei Koryakin wrote:
> There is three quotes:
> 1. "It is a proud and lonely thing to be a fan." Robert Bloch, "A Way
> of Life", 1956
> 2. "It is a proud and lonely thing to be a stainless steel rat" Harry
> Harrison, "The Stainless Steel Rat", 1957
> 3. "It is a proud and lonely thing to be a stainless steel leech" Roger
> Zelazny (as Harrison Denmark), "The Stainless Steel Leech", 1963
>
> Did they quote one another? Or did they have a common source?
> How about Harrisone influence on Zelazny? Does "Harrison Denmark" mean
> "danish Harry Harrison"?
Your post raises several issues which are somewhat interrelated --
1) "It is a proud and lonely thing to be a fan" was first stated by
Robert Bloch, and this has since been quoted or parodied many times by
writers as some variation of "it is a proud and lonely thing to be
[insert name]..." In addition to the use by Harrison and Zelazny that
you noted, Zelazny also had Corwin remark "It is a proud and lonely
thing to be a Prince in Amber."
2) "The Stainless Steel Leech" was an obvious homage or nod to Harry
Harrison's story and its subsequent sequels.
3) The pseudonym "Harrison Denmark" was created and suggested by the
editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic, Cele Goldsmith, and
necessitated because Zelazny was selling many stories to her at the
time. In fact 4 Zelazny stories appeared in April 1963, two under
Zelazny's name (one each in Amazing and Fantastic), and two under the
name Harrison Denmark (one each in Amazing and Fantastic). Zelazny had
explained this before in interviews, and in the introduction to the
story in the original collection THE LAST DEFENDER OF CAMELOT. Harry
Harrison was living in Denmark at the time, and thus the name Harrison
Denmark was suggested by Goldsmith as a pseudonym to use on the
Stainless Steel Leech story and some others. Zelazny stated that it
hadn't occurred to him that people would think that Harry Harrison
wrote the story, but Harry Harrison himself was prompted to write in to
the magazine to make it clear that he hadn't written it.
4) Zelazny used 2 different pseudonyms that I have been able to confirm
thus far. The main one, Harrison Denmark, was used on 5 publications
that I have been able to confirm. It is possible that there are other
items out there that remain to be rediscovered.
Chris
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